Indian athletes enjoyed a medal rush at the Dubai Para Badminton International 2021 on Sunday, including four gold medals.

On an action-packed finals day for the Indian contingent, world champion Pramod Bhagat defeated compatriot Kumar Nitesh 21-17, 21-18 in the final of the men’s singles SL3 (standing/lower limb impairment/minor) event to bag the the gold medal.

Bhagat later got together with Manoj Sarkar to beat compatriots Nitesh and Sukant Kadam 21-18, 21-16 in the final of the men’s doubles SL3 - SL4 event. Meanwhile, Kadam also won silver in the men’s singles SL4 event. He lost 15-21, 6-21 in the final against France’s Lucas Mazur.

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Nagar Krishna too won a gold medal. He defeated Malaysia’s Didin Taresoh 21-17, 21-18 in the final of the men’s singles SH6 (standing/short stature) event.

In the women’s singles, India’s Manasi Joshi and Palak Kohli won a silver medal each. Joshi lost in the SL3 final to Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna 10-21, 17-21. While Kohli lost in the SU5 (standing/upper limb impairment) to Netherlands’ Megan Hollander 18-21, 18-21.

Prem Kumar Ale clinched a gold medal with his Russian partner Tatiana Gureeva in the mixed doubles WH1 (wheelchair/severe impairment) - WH2 (wheelchair/minor impairment) event. The duo defeated Switzerland’s Luca Olgiati and Karin Suter-Erath 21-11, 21-18 in the final.

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Prem Kumar Ale also got together with compatriot Abu Hubaida to win the silver medal in the men’s doubles WH1 - WH2 event. The duo lost to France’s Thomas Jakobs and David Toupe 19-21, 21-23 in the final.

The Indians, who returned to international competition after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the suspension of events for more than a year, won 21 medals – 5 gold, 6 silver, 10 bronze – in the tournament.

“After such a long gap, this is a very good return, winning two gold medals which will help me a lot in the build up to the Paralympics. I hope to continue this kind of performance in the Paralympics,” Bhagat said, according to PTI.

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“During COVID time, SAI and TOPS helped me a lot, they provided me a mini-gym which helped me maintain my fitness, the result of which was visible today. I was fit that’’s why I was able to perform well.

“SAI also organised a very good camp because of which we were able to return to our levels and make a strong comeback on the international circuit,” said Bhagat, who is among seven para-badminton players in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.

Chief coach Gaurav Khanna said, “Once the lockdown was over, we started training in Lucknow and we were looking for the opportunity to get tournaments where we can assess ourselves and we got the opportunity to come here.

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“I am so happy that we are the highest in medals tally among all the countries present here.”

Here is the list of medal winners of the event.


Singles SL3: Pramod Bhagat (Gold), Kumar Nitesh (Silver), Manoj Sarkar (Bronze)

Singles SL3: Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (Silver) Charanjeet Kaur, Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar (Bronze)  

Singles SH6: Nagar Krishna (Gold)

Singles SL4: Sukant Kadam (Silver)

Singles WH1: Prem Kumar Ale (Bronze)

Doubles WH1 - WH2: Prem Kumar & Ale Abu Hubaida (Silver)

Singles SU5: Palak Kohli (Silver)

Doubles SL3 - SL4: Pramod Bhagat & Manoj Sarkar (Gold), Sukant Kadam & Kumar Nitesh (Silver), Mohammad Arwaz Ansari & Deep Ranjan Bisoyee (Bronze)

Doubles SU5: Chirag Baretha & Rahul Kumar Verma (bronze)

Doubles SH6: Nagar Krishna & Raja Magotra (Gold)

Doubles SL3 - SU5: Palak Kohli & Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar (bronze), Manasi Girishchandra Joshi & Arati Janoba Patil (bronze)

Mixed doubles SL3-SU5: Pramod Bhagat & Palak Kohli (Bronze)

(Combined medals)

Mixed doubles WH1 - WH2: India’s Prem Kumar Ale & Russia’s Tatiana Gureeva (Gold), India’s Girishkumar Jayanthilal Sharma & Egypt’s Shaimaa Samy Ab D Ellatif (Bronze)

  • Wheelchair Sport Classes – WH 1 and WH 2
  • Standing Sport Classes – SL 3, SL 4 and SU 5
  • Short Stature Sport Class – SS 6